thetravdog
Sadly you’re likely to see a bit of disdain on here for both the machine and grinder you’ve mentioned. There’s a misconception that people buy those products solely for the name, which in my experience isn’t true since neither brand has any value in my circle of friends/family who mostly wouldn’t know La Marzocco from Morphy Richards…
Also people can’t fathom spending such money on a ‘simple’ machine which I understand, but sometimes we just like to buy nice things right?
No disdain from me however, as it mirrors my setup (albeit the Mini not the Micra). I’ve had the LM for almost 3 years and the Philos for a year.
For me, the two combine the perfect factors of build quality (unrivalled on both, really) and the balance of simplicity and output quality. I sold a profiling machine to get one as I didn’t really ever use profiling.
There are far more versatile machines, many at a much lower cost and indeed more nuanced, dedicated grinders, but what you’re getting from the LM and Philos is great coffee, reliably and simply, from equipment that feels like it will go on forever.
And if it doesn’t, you’re buying from two companies who’ve been around for a very long time (100 and 80 years). The service network for LM globally is fantastic and many commercial techs will do home visits, I think @matth had his Micra serviced by a tech fairly recently?
We drink medium to medium light across filter and espresso, occasionally with milk and the I200 burrs really shine. I’m currently grinding Origin’s Stronghold which is on the darker end of medium and it’s a treat as espresso.
